I am a novice at this and have only downloaded VirtualBox a few days ago. Made a VM ok but had trouble with cloning as VBoxManage wouldn't run - just flashed up and disappeared. Iwas looking for answers in the forums when I came on this thread.

Gui worked great but I had to enter the full path for the .vdi otherwise it assumed the .vdi was in my default download directory. I am running Vista.

I guess this tool has to be run on a xp host or used through a xp guest. Maybe WINE?
I gave up on cloning awhile ago.
Now when I want to clone I just make a new vdi and use Acronis to copy the contents over to the new drive. Its the same procedure I use to change the size of one. This way it doesn't matter if I have snapshots. Of course this is only for windows. I haven't had a need for a Linux or other quest system.
As far as snapshots....sure do wish I could boot to different ones like vmware. But of course, I can backtrack through them creating new vdis for each one I want along the way.
My typical use:
I have a clean xp install vdi. It's snapshoted. I install whatever and set up like I like. Then I create a new vdi, copy the disk to the new vdi, delete the snapshots back to my original clean xp and I'm ready again.
I found this especially useful for working with Thinstall.

in my case, I clicked on "Register cloned image in Virtual Box Manager", the clone operation has problem as the CloneVDI GUI reports but created cloned VDI. I then created a new virtual machine and tried to attach it to this existing cloned VDI. I got a usual message where it says UUID already exists in xml.

Ok, a small maintainer rollup to your posts, I have been busy in the last days...

@cminz:

> VBoxManage wouldn't run - just flashed up and disappeared.

Vboxmanage[.exe] is not a tool with a window, you have to open a command window (run "cmd") and start the program there.
CloneVDIGUI is a wrapper around this tool that enables you to use a gui instead of typing the command with the right parameters into a command window.

> Gui worked great but I had to enter the full path for the .vdi otherwise it assumed the .vdi was in my default download directory.

Of course you have, else the tool has no chance to find the VDI.
Another way is simply clicking the dropdown box for the source VDI file, all VDIs that are registered in the VirtualBox should already be shown there.

@Kirkules:

> I guess this tool has to be run on a xp host or used through a xp guest. Maybe WINE?

If you mean VBoxManage.exe, it uses windows and the command console...
If you mean my CloneVDIGUI, it should run on any windows system having .NET 2.0 installed.

@cevherd:

> the clone operation has problem as the CloneVDI GUI reports but created cloned VDI

Without any offense, I simply don't understand what you are trying to say.
Could you try to explain this a bit?

> [...] attach it to this existing cloned VDI. I got a usual message where it says UUID already exists in xml.

I suppose you mean attach it to the new clone?
Then this message about an existing UUID should not appear I I remember right (?) The "VBoxManage clonevdi" command should already create a new UUID in the cloned file.
Can anyone approve my assumption? (I currently have no vdi at hand to check myself)

... I then created a new virtual machine and tried to attach it to this existing cloned VDI. I got a usual message where it says UUID already exists in xml...

I think , you want to attach the .vdi to the newly created machine?

1.)Your error happens, if you create a machine - with a name, which exists before.
(Change the name of the new machine to "xyz-WinXP" - for example.):wink:
2.)Or a .vdi with indentical name. (check the disk-manager in VBox)

The tool from eFloh renames the clone automatically with an "_1" at the end.
If you didn't change this , I think your problem relates to point 1.)

CloneVDIGUI Version 1.2009.0314.2308------------------------------------------------* FEATURE: Support for VirtualBox V.2.1.6 (vboxmanage list hdds output has changed).* FEATURE: Target file name auto-generation is re-activated when the target field is made empty.* FEATURE: Source and target file fields are highlighted as long as they do not contain a syntactivally valid file path.* FEATURE: Clone button is disabled as long as the source and target file fields do not contain valid input.* FEATURE: source file list is reloaded after cloning when "register cloned image in VirtualBox Manager is checked.* FEATURE: Source file has ".." button to choose a file not registered in the VirtualBox Manager.* FEATURE: Version and author contact is shown in main window.

* FIX: App crashed while one typed a source file name when the target name is auto-generated.* FIX: App crashed when trying to clone with empty source file field.

Considering there is a Virtual Media Manager in the application that lets you add and remove virtual disks, and they have a command line function to clone a virtual disk, it is disappointing that there isn't a Clone button in the GUI. I would think this a VERY easy addition, and a very welcome one that would keep you from mistakenly trying to duplicate a disk manually only to find it doesn't work and then pouring over information to find out how this is possible. I would also think it a required addition since the documentation would seem to indicate the cloning is only possible on a Unix based system, but maybe the command works in DOS as well? At any rate, this tops my feature request list.

Hi, looks like fine application, but unfortunately it doesn't work on my VISTA system... Actually a lot doesn't work on this crap.

When I try to execute your exe I get an error message stating; "C:\Program Files\SUN\xVM VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" list hdds could not be started.

Please advice if there is anything I missed to start/end/check before using the application? I tried for example to turn off the User Control in case that sh*t is corrupting, but it didn't help. I have also checked the path to VBoxManage.

This error message means that the application could not call the list of images registered in VirtualBox. You may nevertheless use the applicationby manually selecting a VDI in the upper field and starting the clone process.But maybe also the clone command may fail, in this case please also post the output of the result text window.

Please download the new version 1.2009.0319.0959 from the known url and post back the extended error message you get, this may help me diagnosting the problem further.

Do you have a 64Bit-System? I don't and thus cannot test the app on this platform.Which version von VirtualBox do you use?